Russia and Ukraine accused each other of targeting civilians over the New Year, with Moscow reporting a deadly strike on a hotel in territory it occupies in southern Ukraine while Kyiv said there had been another broad attack on its power supplies.

Defense experts questioned Russia's drone attack claims against President Vladimir Putin's residence after Moscow provides conflicting accounts of intercepted Ukrainian drones.

The CIA has assessed Ukraine was not targeting a residence used by Russian President Vladimir Putin in a recent drone attack in the north of his country, according to US officials, undercutting an assertion the Russian president had made to Trump in a Monday phone call.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday proposed appointing First Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov as Ukraine's new defence minister, praising his abilities in developing the drones and digitalisation needed for the country's defence.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in his New Year address to the nation, said late Wednesday that Kyiv wanted the war to end, but not at any cost, adding he would not sign a "weak" peace agreement that would only prolong the war.

Behind Moscow’s unproven claims that Kyiv tried to attack one of Vladimir Putin’s vacation residences this week lie far steeper hurdles to ending Russia’s war, none more fundamental than Ukraine’s unflinching desire to pursue an independent,

Russian President Vladimir Putin's defiant New Year's message contrasts sharply with President Donald Trump's diplomatic push as Ukraine-Russia war approaches fourth year.

Russia's top general has told troops to keep carving out buffer zones in Ukraine's Sumy and Kharkiv regions in order to protect civilians in Russia's neighbouring Kursk and Belgorod regions from Ukrainian attacks.